caldwell



1. K. CALDWELL.

Brick Kiln.

No. 67,632. Patented Aug.13, 1667.

JOHN K. CALDWELL, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Pate-nt .Nrn 67,632, fitted Auf/:lst I3, ISST IMPROVEMENT IN BRICK-GARS.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAIr CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JOHN K. CALIiwELL, oi' the city of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and use-ful Improvement in Ott-Bearing and Drying Brick-Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a fall, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tol the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 lis a perspective view of my improved drying-car, with-the hinged shelves of one end in a vertical, and of the otherl end in a horizontal position and Figure 2 is an edge View of one of thestandards, showing the spring thereto attached.

Like letters in each designate similar parts.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction of an improved car for drying brick, fruit, grain, and other articles, which car has shelves hinged at one end, so as to occupy a horizontal, or so as to be placed in an upright position, for convenience and facility of loading.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and mode of operation.

For facility of moving -my car into or out of an oven, or from place to place, I provide a truck and frame of any convenient construction, but commonly as shown in the drawings. I make it with wheels a, usually flanged to operate on a track, connect them by axles a', on which, either inside or outside the wheels a, I rest the side bearers Z7. These I connect by any necessary number of cross-bearers I1', audthereon place slats c, of any desirable breadth, and with intcrstices c between them, suilicient-ly wide and suiciently numerous to allow ofthe free passage of air upwards through the bottom of the ear. i But other suitablbpcnings or apertures may take the place ofthe interstices e. From either side of thecar, and vattached to the bearers b,iare-uprigrbt standards el, in any desirable number. A series of shelves ff', either made whole, or in longitudinal sections, and divided lengthways, is hinged to these standards CZ by rods e e e e, each upper rod e, c, Sie., being the proper distance above and a little back of its next lower rod e c', Sie., so that the shelves, as aty", may have a horizontal position one above the other, and be supported in place by the hinge rodsc e', the., at one end, andv by the legs gat the other, the legs of each upper shelfg resting on the shelf` next below; and also so that, for convenience and facility. in loading, the shelves may, as at f, be throwninto a vertical or upright position, the horizontal distance between two rods c e', Sac., being at least equal to the thickness ofthe shelvesf, so as to provide room for raising the shelves successively to an upright position. To the outside of each o fthe standards @Z I attach a spring, 7L, for each series or set of shelvingf or f. The upper end ot' this spring 7L has a catch, z', running through a slot in the standard rl,bevelled on its outer face, so that as the shelves ff are raised one after another, they may slip past the catch t', and there be retained, until by, drawing back the spring 7i they are released and thrown down into-a horizontal position as each successive one is loaded. Thus I commence by loading the bottom or lower shelf, the upper ones being retained in a vertic'al position, so as to be out of 'the 4way. The lower shelf` being loaded, another is dropped down and loaded, the spring L being drawn back for that purpose, and so on successively till all the shelves ff are loaded, when the car is ready for the oven. But I do not deem the spring 7L as always essential, since I sometimes dispense with its use, and arrange the rods e e,.&c., in the standards d in such a manner that the shelves f f', Src., may, when raised to a vertical position, be thrown or fall backward over their respective centres, where they will he retained by force of gravity until let down for use. To allow' the free circulation ofthe heated air of the oven among thc bricks or other articles, I usually puncture the shelves ff with any desirable number of holes or apertures s s, of such size, shape, or arrangement as will best secure the desired results. When loose or light articles, such as fruit or grain, are to bc dried, ledges may be made along the outer edges of the shelves ff', and the apertures s c be made smaller, or closed with thin cloth, wire gauze, or other similar material, such as will prevent the articles to be dried from falling through, and still offer no serious resistance to the free circulation ofthe heated air of the oven. I have described the shelves ff as hinged at the centre of the car. They may, however, be hinged atcach end, and open or fold outward, or hinged only at one end, or hinged at any desirable point between the two ends, or longitudinally with the car, on either or both sides, or between the sides. The unhinged ends of such shelves should then, of course, be supported by legs g, or by other equivalent device. I do not confine myself, however,

in constructing the clevices described, to any particular material, but use any suitable for such purposes. TWO or more such cars I connect by couplings n, when desirable so to do.

The advantages of the car, as described, consist in its cheapness of' construction,V simplicity, ease of trans pertation when either loaded or uuloaded,'oonvenienee for loading and unloading, and its durability. Bricks may be placed on to it as they are discharged from the machine, and then be conveyed directly to the oven, and, when dried, thence to the kiln Without additional handling. Thus the liability of the bricks to injury is greatly lessened.

What I claim as my` invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Hinging the shelves oi'a car for drying brick, fruit, grain, and other articles requirngsuch treatment, to an upright standard, or to upright standards, such standard or standards beine attached to and supported by a truck or ear-frame, substantially as and for the purposes hcreinbefore set forcth. i

spring, ZL, with a bevelled catch, attached to a standard, d, in combination with a. shelf, or with shelves ff', which it is 'designed and adapted to retain in an upright position substantially in the'manner and for the purposes above set fort-l1.

' In testimony whereof I, the said JOHN K, CALDWELL, have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN K. CALDWELL.

Witnesses:

W. BAKEWELL, A. S. NICHOLSON. 

